16. Meeting with King Charles Albert 1847 (MB. 3,416).
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I dreamed that I was strolling along an avenue on the outskirts of the city of Turin. Suddenly King Charles Albert approached me and stopped smiling to greet me.
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- Good morning, Your Majesty! - I exclaimed.
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- How are you Don Bosco? - I am very well and very happy to meet your Majesty.
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- If so, would you like to accompany me for a walk? - I'd love to! - Let's go then.
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The king was dressed in white and had no insignia of his dignity.
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- What do you say about me? - he asked me.
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- That your majesty is a good Catholic - I answered him.
And he added: I want to be not only a good Catholic for you, but I also want to be your friend and protector.
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I have always been interested in your work, and I have always wanted to see it progress. You know that. I would have liked to help you more, but events have not allowed me to do so.
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- Your Majesty, would you like to grant me a very special favor? - What would it be?
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- I would ask you to be the godfather, the special patron at our feast of St. Louis.
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- With pleasure, but you must understand that this would attract a lot of attention and would cause a lot of commotion. Anyway, we will see how we can make you happy, even without my presence.
The king disappeared and I woke up.
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Note: Charles Albert was king of Savoy (northern Italy) from 1831 to 1849. In that year, in March, he left the kingdom to his son Victor Emmanuel, and in July he died. He was always a benefactor of the Oratory of Don Bosco. For several years the singers of Don Bosco sang in the cathedral the Requiem Mass on the anniversary of the death of Charles Albert.
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17. The globe of fire 1854 (MB. 5,58).
In a dream, I saw a luminous globe of fire on the ground where the Temple of Mary Help of Christians was later to be built. It seemed that Our Lady was confirming with this sign that She continued to desire that a temple be built there, from which She would enlighten many souls.
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18. The 22 moons, 1854
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"I was in the midst of you in the courtyard and I rejoiced in my heart to see you so lively, cheerful and happy. Some were jumping, some were shouting, others were running. Suddenly I saw that one of you came out of a door of the house and began to walk among the companions with a kind of turban on his head. It was such a transparent turban, it was illuminated on the inside and had in the center a beautiful moon on which was engraved the number 22. I, in admiration, immediately tried to approach the young man in question to tell him to leave that carnival costume; but, in the meantime, the atmosphere began to darken and, as if at a bell, the courtyard was deserted, and all the young people gathered in rows under the porticoes. All reflected in their faces a great fear, and ten or twelve had their faces covered with a deadly pallor. I passed in front of them all to examine them and, among them, I discovered the one who wore the moon on his head, who was paler than the others; from his shoulders hung a funereal mantle. I went to him to ask him the meaning of all those, when a hand stopped me and I saw a stranger of grave aspect and noble continent, who said to me: - Before you approach him, listen to me; he still has twenty-two moons of time; before they have passed this young man will die. Do not lose sight of him and prepare him.
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I wanted to ask that personage for some other explanation about what he had just told me and about his sudden appearance, but I did not manage to see him again. The young man in question, my dear children, is known to me and is in your midst.
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A lively terror seized the listeners, all the more so because it was the first time that Don Bosco announced in public and with a certain solemnity the death of one of the members of the house. The good Father could not but notice it and continued: "I know the one with the moons, he is in your midst. But I do not want you to be afraid. As I told you, it is a dream, and you know that one should not always believe dreams. In any case, however it may be, what is certain is that we must always be prepared, as the Divine Savior recommends to us in the Gospel, and not commit sins; then death will not frighten us. Be all of you good, do not offend the Lord, and I meanwhile will not lose sight of the one with the number 22, the one with the twenty-two moons or twenty-two months, which means; and I hope he will have a good death."
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Observations: When this dream was narrated, the boys Cagliero, Turchi, Anfossi and the clergymen Reviglio and Buzzetti were present. This news frightened the students very much and they all tried to keep themselves in the grace of God. Don Bosco, from time to time, asked: - How many moons are missing? - Twenty, eighteen, fifteen... - they answered - Some tried to guess, to make predictions; but Don Bosco kept silent. On December 24, 1854, on the 22nd moon, the young Segundo Gurgo died.